The Jamaican police have just confirmed what has been blindingly obvious to anybody who has read even one chapter of Famous Five, Secret Seven or Hardy Boys: that there was more to Bob Woolmer‘s death than met the jaundiced journalistic eye. Was Woolmer really so weak mentally as to suffer a heart attack after Pakistan’s shock defeat to Ireland? After all, he has seen worse, like South Africa losing to Australia in Edgbaston. Could the “stress” of coaching a mercurial side like Pakistan consume Woolmer only on this precise night?

Now that the police have gone public and said the circumstances of the death were “suspicious”, what do you think could be the likely cause? Did he commit suicide (a British paper has hinted at a mix of prescribed drugs and alcohol)? Or was he poisoned and murdered? And, let’s ask a question most people are sanctimonisouly squeamish to ask: were match-fixers, bookies and the underworld who lost out bigtime due to Pakistan’s early exit, behind the death?

Woolmer was reportedly writing a book which would have thrown a lot of light on match-fixing thanks to his being part of the South African team led by the convicted and deceased Hansie Cronje. Did Woolmer know too much? Could some players and ex-players who have been at the receiving end been at work? Tell.

If it can be ascertained without a shadow of doubt that it was murder, then I think this will be the biggest blow to cricket, bigger than match-fixing. If match-fixers are behind the murder, it will be a body-blow from which cricket might not really recover and effectively cast a shadow over the next World Cup, scheduled to be held in the subcontinent.

one thing certainly looks very very fishy. if anyone’s noticed, there is a pattern in all(but one) the ‘david vs goliath’ matches. it is that ‘David’ always fields first and goliath always bats first. it doesnt seem to matter who wins the toss, but it is always the indias and the australias and the south africas batting first. I think only the windies vs zim match is the exception to the rule. And in all other such matches, except the now infamous pak vs ireland, goliath goes on to wallop sixes by the dozen and david loses by a huge margin. this pattern certainly seems to be designed to optimise and maximise TV viewership and advertising. And for some strange reason, the pak vs ireland match failed to live up to the script. Was it a case of one rival betting syndicate pulling off a last minute coup? My guess is as good as anybody’s.

I think it was murder. In fact, I’ve done my own thing by raising questions on the topic (Macabre Saga: Crucial Questions) on my blog. I don’t know if its alright to advertise this way, please pardon me if it’s not done!